Time for Revenge

It's the Steelers vs. the Bengals #2 in 2009 and time for them to exact some revenge for the early season loss. The Steelers haved changed somewhat from that earlier loss and look to prove the class of the North Division. Troy Polamalu missed that game after his knee injury in the first game, the running game was a shadow of its current self, Aaron Smith was still active, and the defense was letting other teams make late game runs.

The defense is back to form, Troy is looking good, Rashard Mendenhall has shored up the running attack, and Willie Parker is over his turf toe and ready to go, Travis Kirschke has provided quality run support and now Nick Eason and Ziggy Hood need to do the same against Cedric Benson.

The big difference between now and then could be the running game. Instead of giving Carson Palmer time to drive down the field at the end of the game, Rashard could be called on to run out the clock and not give Palmer that chance. It would help if the special teams practiced onside kicks this week too! Home field advantage won't hurt too! The Steelers let the last one get away, the Bengals have been gaining confidence as the wins pile up, but this is Hines' Field.

Steelers 28 Bengals 17